


Other Pastimes

by yarnandtea



Category: Dragon Age
Genre: Friendship, Gen, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-27
Updated: 2012-09-27
Packaged: 2017-11-15 03:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/522742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yarnandtea/pseuds/yarnandtea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Varric doesn't spend every night drinking at The Hanged Man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Other Pastimes

**Author's Note:**

> From the Dragon Age Random Prompt Generator. I got the pairing Guardswoman Brennan/Varric Tethras and the prompt: long walks, late at night. This is where my brain went with it.

There were nights when Hawke and his companions were too otherwise occupied to spend in the Hanged Man. There were nights like that when Varric wasn't with them. What was a handsome and loquacious dwarf to do when his friends weren't around to hold court with?

Well, most nights he still held court. But instead of the apostates and the pirate and the elf, his subjects were the usual rabble of the tavern's patrons. Even Varric had to admit, much as he loved his friends, the rabble oft times made a better audience. They were much more eager for the tales, begging him to tell a beloved story, "just one more time," no matter that it had been told three times that evening already. No matter that each tale grew more elaborate with each retelling. The high dragon in the Bone Pit was a particular favorite. Varric was damn proud of that one.

But even loquacious (and handsome) dwarfs liked to take a night off every once in a while.

So there were enough evenings that Varric spent walking through Kirkwall, mapping the city in his mind, finding all of its dark corners and hidden spaces. He did that during the day too, when his other obligations would allow, but everything was different at night, and a good author had to know his setting well. The nighttime strolls were dangerous enough not to be boring, certainly.

There was always something new to learn about this strange city. There were always people to get to know as well, new and old. Running into someone in the dead of night in Lowtown, for instance,  _definitely_  gave you a different impression than encountering them in Hightown's market in the light of day. Especially if they were trying to stab you. But that had only happened a couple of times. Well, maybe more than that. Who was counting, really?

It was a good reason, one of many in truth, to be on good terms with the city guards. It helped that the Guard Captain was one of his drinking buddies, but Varric didn't like to ride on other people's shoulders overly much. So he made the effort to get to know the guards as well. He would say he didn't have any favorites, aside from Aveline, of course, but like most things that came out of his mouth, it wouldn't exactly be the truth.

There was Donnic of course. Hard not to like your friend's husband, especially when they were clearly so good for each other. But he didn't really count, mostly for that reason. If someone somehow managed to convince Varric to be completely honest, he'd have to say that Brennan was his favorite guard in Kirkwall.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that for some reason his late night walks through the city always seemed to coincide with her nights pulling patrol. That was only part of it though. For instance, Brennan was always up for company on her patrols, and she didn't mind swapping gossip with a handsome (and loquacious) dwarf. She wouldn't drink on duty, but she  _always_  had snacks squirreled away in her kit and she shared without being asked.

She never asked for stories, either, which he found something of a relief, telling her own instead. About her childhood, and why she'd joined the guard, and how much better things were under Aveline than they had been under Jeven, despite the shitstorms the city had seen in the last few years. It was nice to be the audience, every once in a while, and Varric was always glad of the reminder.

He also learned a lot by listening instead of talking. Like that Brennan had a wicked sense of humor. Or that as professional as she was in the Captain's presence, she actually completely idolized Aveline. Varric had long suspected that was why she hadn't said anything when Jeven returned to Kirkwall, she didn't want to upset the Captain with the news, and she honestly could not conceive of  _anyone_  choosing to give their loyalty to Jeven over Aveline.

Maybe long walks late at night through the city  _weren't_  as much fun as spending an evening in the Hanged Man playing wicked grace and drinking with his friends. But Varric thought they might be a close second.

"Done!" Hawke exclaimed, rubbing his hands together briskly as he exited Aveline's office, Fenris trailing behind him. "I love when Aveline throws work my way, it makes me feel all...legitimate." Fenris snorted behind him and Hawke grinned widely.

"What's the job?" Varric asked, nodding goodbye to Donnic and striding over to his friends. He eyed Fenris' fidgeting form, trying to decide if it was due to excitement or nerves. Probably the former, he'd never really known the elf to be actually nervous about anything. "Broody looks like he's ready to race off and take it on himself."

"How many times must I ask you not to call me that?" Fenris grimaced, but he stilled as well.

"Remains to be seen," Varric quipped in response, smirking at Hawke's barked laugh. "So?"

"Just a little clean up down at the docks," Hawke said after a moment. "Seems some slavers have set up shop, but their paperwork is forged a little too well. Not quite fishy enough to warrant an official investigation by the City Guard just yet, so..." he spread his hands and Varric nodded thoughtfully. It certainly explained Fenris' eagerness. He was always more than happy to remind slavers that they weren't welcome in Kirkwall.

"Where is the abomination?" Fenris asked, glancing around as Hawke turned to lead them out of the estate.

"Blondie wandered off," Varric answered. "Muttered something about something about getting the word out."

"Probably stuffing copies of his manifesto into every book he can find," Hawke sighed. "We'll grab him on the way out."

"Lovely." Fenris said, drawing a chuckle from Varric.

"Oh," Hawke paused at the foot of the steps leading out of the Guard's quarters, "I almost forgot, did we want to have a game tonight? I should probably let Aveline know before we go."

"Nah," Varric said, glancing at the duty roster posted on the wall. "Looks like it's gonna be a nice night. I was thinking I might go for a walk."


End file.
